Making good on its promise to deliver the first additional content forDiablo 4in “mid-to-late July”, Blizzard has revealed the first season ofDiablo 4asSeason of the Malignant.Season of the Malignantis set to begin on July 20, with new seasonal rewards, cosmetics, and challenges all up for grabs across the world of Sanctuary. However, whether one has been playingDiablo 4since June 1 or just picked up the title in anticipation of the first live-service content drop, there are plenty of things that will be helpful to do ahead of the season’s beginning given howDiablo 4will approach its seasonal content.
While several other live-service titles have utilized the seasonal model for their regular content drops and updates, there aren’t many that approach seasons in the same way thatDiablodoes. Intitles likeDestiny 2, players can carry their legacy characters from season to season, accruing rewards and building progress at the beginning of each using the same build.Diablo 4, much likeDiablo 3, requires players to use new “Seasonal” characters that are created at the beginning of each season, which then become “Eternal” characters that can be played outside the current seasonal content. Without being able to use a favorite character build that’s carried players for over a month, here are some key preparations to be made ahead of July 20.
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Make Sure to Get At Least One Character Through the Campaign of Diablo 4
Without being able to carry the Eternal characters that players have been using sincethe launch ofDiablo 4, it may raise the question of how players are expected to be able to dive right in to the seasonal content beginning July 20. Since it will be necessary to create a new Seasonal character at the beginning of the season, that hero would of course need to complete the campaign before being able to access the endgame where the seasonal content takes place. The solution to this problem is to make sure that at least one character has made it through the main story quest line ofDiablo 4ahead ofSeason of the Malignant’s launch.
With at least one character through the campaign, players can skip the campaign questiline and get right into the limited-time content with a Seasonal hero right from the jump. If a player has already completed the campaign with at least one hero, they’re in a perfect position for being able to head straight into the new seasonal content with a Seasonal hero without needing to replay the campaign.Diablo 4’s campaign is great, but it can take some time to complete even if players are simply rushing down the critical path.
Tie Up Loose Ends Around Sanctuary’s Map
Even if a player has completed the campaign multiple times with several different classes, there may still be some lingering threads in Sanctuary to address before the first seasonal drop arrives. First and foremost, making sure that allthe Altars of Lilithhave been claimed will be of paramount importance. Considering that finding these statues grants permanent stat boosts to all players on a profile, finding all the Altars prior to the first season will allow players to give their Seasonal hero a massive stat boost right out of the gate.
As players are going around and claiming all the Altars of Lilith, another great side activity to complete before the beginning of the first season is eliminating the fog of war that takes up any undiscovered areas of Sanctuary. Consider this a “killing two demons with one axe"approach toDiablo 4’s map, as doing one of these activities will invariably give way to completing the other. With the fog of war removed and all fast travel points available, players will have nothing but air and opportunity between their characters and any of the upcoming seasonal content.
Diablo 4is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
